Watership Down: The Untold Stories
by Keeralie Starflight
Summary: Based off of the first and second seasons of WSD and my first fanfic, Woundwort's Return. Telling various short stories about the various Watershippers, both canon and my OCs. Rated T for probable violence.
1. Rebellion Part One

**Well, I've thought about this, and for the first little mini-story, short, whatever, I'm going to go back in time. Back to the battle in the caverns beneath Watership Down, where Campion was very nearly killed. As you know, this being based from my fanfic, he was imprisoned by Woundwort until escaping with Dandelion, Ivy, Trill, and Moss. What happened to Moss in the months between the final episode of season two and the beginning of his life on the Down, is a story waiting to be told. And it is also the story of his friends, an officer called Redwood, his mate, a doe named Poppy, Redwood's sister Myca, and most especially, Trill...**

* * *

Rebellion Part One: A Friend in Danger

Previously on Watership Down:

"This is how it ends, Bigwig!" Woundwort snarled.

"No!"

Woundwort was thrown off of Bigwig by a sudden attack from...

"Campion?!"

"Forgive me, General," Campion said.

Woundwort let out a roar of rage and leaped at his traitorous Captain of Owsla. The two bucks grappled for a few moments. Meanwhile, the Watershippers were being driven back.

"Campion, come on!" Hazel cried.

The two rabbits raced the tunnel. Hazel plunged through the gap and galloped into the warren. Campion started to follow, but a yell from Woundwort stopped him.

"Campion!"

"Yes, sir," Campion said, turning to face his former Chief.

"You betrayed me, Campion! I'll tear you apart!" Woundwort roared.

Then, the boulder started to move.

"General!" Campion cried, shoving his Chief clear, just as the huge rock fell on top of him.

"Campion!" Blackberry screamed...

* * *

After the Watershippers had gone, the Efrafans returned. At first in ones and twos, and then in little groups. Two bucks, a grey and a tall sienna brown, watched as their Chief dug through the rubble that had buried their superior officer not an hour before.

"What is he doing?" the sienna buck asked, "Surely he doesn't think Campion is still alive under all that?"

His companion stared fixedly ahead, making no reply.

"Moss? Are you all right?"

"Campion has survived before, Redwood," Moss said, "He might be alive."

_"He has to be," _Moss thought,_ "I need him to be."_

Redwood shook his head.

"Look, Moss, we watched that rock fall on top of him. He's not going to come out of there in one piece."

"I don't understand why we're wasting time on him," someone whined, "He's a traitor to Efrafa!"

"Vervain, you were right, and we were wrong, now will you kindly put a carrot in it?" Moss growled.

The black buck opened his mouth to reply, but Redwood stepped between the two.

"Moss, there's no use fighting about it. What's done is done. Campion's..."

At that moment, a triumphant cry from Woundwort made the three bucks forget their quarrel. The huge Chief Rabbit was just pulling a limp body from the rubble.

"What the..." Redwood muttered, "How in Frith...?"

The General set Campion down, and seemed to be waiting for something. Then, miraculously, the sienna-colored Captain began to stir.

Moss let out a low cry of pure joy. Vervain, meanwhile, stared in shock.

Campion moaned in pain, then cast a quick glance around.

"What...happened..."

"Don't pretend you don't remember!" Vervain snapped, "You betrayed Efrafa..."

"And then you saved my life," Woundwort interrupted, "Why?"

Campion sighed.

"You are...were...my Chief. I did my duty."

"I don't know whether to thank you, or kill you," Woundwort told him, "You betray me, and then turn around and save my life. What am I supposed to think of that?"

Campion chuckled.

"I'll leave that to you."

"He's a traitor!" Vervain squealed, "The laws of Efrafa demand that he be punished! Treachery is punishable by death!"

"The laws of Efrafa also say that bravery must be honored," Moss broke in, "I think that alleviates the sentence a good deal, with all due respect, sirs."

Campion darted a grateful glance at the grey buck, and even Woundwort looked relieved.

"Very well," the General said, "Campion, you are relieved of your Captaincy. Until you recover, you may remain in your old quarters. Then we will decided what is to be done with you."

"Recover?" Redwood muttered, "He seems fine to me."

At that moment, Campion turned to look at the two officers, and the extent of his wounds were revealed.

Moss gasped. The left side of his friend's face was...gone. That was the only way to describe the terrible wound scarring Campion's face.

Campion seemed puzzled, and glanced inquiringly at Moss.

_"Oh, Frith!" _Moss thought,_ "He doesn't know."_

Several failed attempts to get Campion on his feet resulted in the incredibly agreeable Woundwort hoisting his former second-in-command onto his back and carrying him back to Efrafa, which Redwood later remarked was a surprising show of kindness.

* * *

Later that same night, Moss, who had been lurking around the vicinity of Campion's burrow, hoping to get in to see his friend, encountered none other than Redwood peeking out of a small burrow just down the passageway.

"What are you doing?" Moss hissed.

"Trying to get in to see Campion, same as you," the sienna buck replied.

"What for? You barely know him."

"I have my reasons," Redwood said, "What about you? You're not the kind of rabbit to be making a social call at this hour."

"Neither are you."

The two bucks stood staring at each other for several moments.

"I think I can trust you," Redwood said at last, "Moss, um, I have a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"A very ticklish one. So, you know, of course, that as officers we aren't allowed to have kits?"

Moss nodded.

"I don't understand that one. Seems as if they'd want all the decent bucks they could get."

Redwood nodded.

"But, well, I have a problem of that sort."

"Oh," Moss said, "_That_ kind of problem. What does that have to do with Campion?"

"I thought maybe Campion might have some idea of what to do," Redwood said, "He's good at figuring out problems."

"What are you thinking?" Moss asked.

"I think Campion was on to something," Redwood said, "I want to get Poppy and my kits out of here, but I'd rather see this place free of Woundwort first."

Moss gasped.

"Are you saying that you want to start a rebellion?"

Redwood looked Moss straight in the eyes.

"Yes."

* * *

**And yeah. Not much more to say, except, next time no one knows what will happen. ;) Please review!**


	2. Rebellion Part Two

Rebellion Part Two: The Team

Moss stared at Redwood in shock.

"But, Redwood... We'll be killed."

The other buck shook his head.

"No, we won't. Trust me, half of Efrafa will be with us in a minute if we announced it to everybody."

"And what about the other half?" Moss demanded, "The half that's principally made up of Owsla?!"

"It will be all right," Redwood said, "Now are you in or out?"

Moss sighed.

"Well, Campion, you'd better be pleased with this," he muttered. He took a deep breath.

"In."

* * *

Moss followed Redwood into the heart of the slave quarters. The sienna buck was taking him to meet the rest of the 'team', as he called it. Moss was reluctant in the extreme to throw himself into something that could very likely get him killed, but he had decided that something had to be done. In fact, the grey buck had changed a great deal in just a few short hours. Gone was the laughing, happy Corporal Moss of Efrafa. He had been replaced by someone older, possibly wiser, and most certainly less trusting.

They stopped in front of a small burrow.

"In here," Redwood said.

Moss followed Redwood inside, and almost immediately collided with a small sienna and cream doe.

"Sorry, sir," the doe apologized, jumping backward.

"No harm done," Moss said, "What's your name?"

"Trill," The doe replied.

Suddenly, Moss felt something pulling on his tail.

He looked down and saw a small brown kitten had his tail between her teeth and was pulling on it.

"What the..." Moss yelped, "Where'd you come from?"

The kit blinked big green eyes at him.

"Wanna pull your tail off. It's fluffy."

"Fluffy it is, mate, but I'm an officer. You can't just come walking up to random rabbits pulling tails every which way."

"Corydalis, don't bother the nice Corporal," someone called.

Moss took a good look around, and saw that besides Redwood, Trill, himself, and the kitten, who's name appeared to be Corydalis, there was a pretty creamy yellow and white doe, a small tan one, and two more kits, one black and the other tan.

"Moss, meet my mate Poppy, my sister Myca, my kits, Violet, Rowan, and Corydalis, whom you've met."

Moss nodded.

"Pleased to meet you all."

"Me like him, marli," Rowan said, "Can I keep him?"

"Surely not," Poppy said, "He's not a pet."

Rowan climbed onto Moss' head.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not, mate," Moss said, "Come down now, you're tickling my ears."

"Nope! Me stay all the days of my life!"

"I've not heard that one before," Redwood chuckled, "Come down, young lad. It's past your bedtime."

"No!" Rowan yelled, "No bedtime!"

"Ssh!" Poppy squeaked, "Someone could hear you!"

Trill looked around, then suddenly started to her feet.

"Where is Corydalis?" she asked.

All five adult rabbits looked around frantically for the missing kit.

"We'll find her," Moss assured the does as he and Redwood dashed out of the burrow and split off in opposite directions.

Moss dashed through the warren, sniffing about frantically.

He nearly collided with Corydalis as the tiny doe stepped out of a deserted burrow.

"There you are!" Moss said, unable to keep the relief out of his voice.

"Corporal Moss!"

The voice of General Woundwort nearly sent Moss galloping off to somewhere safe and far away. But he held his ground, and turned to face his Chief.

"Yes, General?"

"Is that yours?" Woundwort demanded.

"No, sir, it's, um... Well, I found it out on patrol. I've been looking for someone to take care of it, but no one wants to."

"Well, then you can just take it back to your burrow. It can stay there tonight."

Moss sighed.

"Yes, sir."

He picked up Corydalis and carried her back to his burrow. She curled up and was soon fast asleep. Moss, however, lay awake that whole night, thinking of how much Redwood and Poppy must be worrying about their kit.

* * *

The next morning, Moss got up while it was still quite dark outside, picked up the sleeping Corydalis, and made his way back to the prison burrows.

As he approached the burrow that Poppy, Myca, and Trill shared, a small sienna and cream head poked out.

"Who's there?" Trill whispered.

"Only me," Moss said, "I brought Corydalis back."

Trill smiled.

"Thank you, Moss. Poppy will be ever so grateful."

"Least I could do," Moss replied.

The two rabbits stood in silence for awhile, then Moss spoke quietly. Curiosity about this doe prompted him to ask her a few questions.

"So, why did you join the rebellion, Trill?"

The little doe looked around to make sure they were completely alone.

"The Efrafans killed my family," she whispered, "I'm from a warren called Clear Stream. They invaded when I was just a kit and killed both my parents. I'm doing this for them. For my friends, and my siblings whom they killed."

Moss nodded.

"You fight for the same reason I do?"

Trill nodded.

"Revenge."

"But not just revenge," Moss said hurriedly, "Justice."

Trill smiled.

"Justice."

* * *

Finally, Moss was put on guard at Campion's burrow. The grey buck was more than ready to have a good long talk with his friend. Of course, there was always the question of whether Campion would want to talk. He usually didn't.

Moss looked around to make sure that no one was watching, then ducked into the burrow.

Campion was lying with his back to the entrance, apparently very interested in the wall.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show up," he said, "It's taken you longer than usual."

The sienna buck turned to face Moss, which resulted in the grey buck losing his powers of speech temporarily. Two days had done nothing to make Campion's injuries any less horrific.

"What is wrong with everyone?" Campion demanded, "Surely I don't look as bad as all that?"

Moss tried to say something, but his mouth wouldn't work.

"Moss?" Campion asked, growing more agitated now, "Moss?"

He waited, but there was no reply forthcoming.

"Well, then I'll just go see for myself!" Campion growled. Before Moss could stop him, the sienna-furred rabbit had pulled himself to his feet and hopped over to a part of the burrow where a small pool of water had collected, and oddly the ceiling gave way to a bit of sky above.

"Campion, don't!" Moss called, too late. Campion had clearly seen his own altered reflection. The sienna buck recoiled in horror and immediately attempted to make his scars as hidden as possible.

"Campion..."

"Leave me alone, Moss!" Campion said, "Now!"

The grey buck backed quickly out of the burrow. Campion returned to staring at his reflection. Outside, Moss stood straight, the model officer, but inside, he was fighting back tears.


	3. Rebellion Part Three

Rebellion Part Three: Betrayed

As the weeks passed, Redwood and Moss slowly won more rabbits to their side. But there was always one or two who said they were going to tell the General. And they had to be quickly silenced. It was during one of those painfully necessary and distinctly unpleasant times that Moss met Appleseed. Or rather, Appleseed walked in on him trying to kill someone.

Moss had been fighting with a particularly difficult to kill buck, and had just finished him for good, when this Appleseed showed up.

"What are you doing?" the young buck asked, eyes wide.

"Um..." Moss wasn't sure how to answer this question.

"Owsla business. Nothing to worry about."

"Why are you killing him?" Appleseed asked, "What did he do?"

"Kid, just get lost!" Moss ordered.

The white buck sat down and refused to budge. Moss groaned.

"Look, what's your name?"

"Appleseed."

"Well, Appleseed, as I've said, it's Owsla business."

"No, it's not," Appleseed said, "You're leading a rebellion. My brother told the General on you."

"Your brother? Who's that?"

"His name is Cactus."

"Inle!" Moss cursed, "I have to find Redwood!"

Appleseed sighed.

"You're going to die..."

* * *

When Moss arrived at the rebel headquarters, he immediately saw that he had come too late. Woundwort, Vervain, and several of the Owsla stood outside the burrow, and two Owslars were just dragging a bruised and beaten Redwood out of the burrow. The does and three kits had been herded out of the burrow, and they stood huddled together nearby.

Redwood noticed Moss. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Run, Moss!" he cried, too late. Two Efrafans had snuck up behind Moss, knocking the grey buck flat.

"Moss?" Woundwort demanded, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Moss fought to control his panicked breathing.

"I don't follow you, sir."

"You helped Redwood start a rebellion, and willfully hid his kits from me!" Woundwort roared.

Moss flinched.

"Do you deny it?" Woundwort growled.

Moss glanced at Redwood. The sienna buck had slumped to the ground, defeated.

"I do not," Moss replied.

* * *

That night, Campion had visitors in his prison burrow.

"What in the name of Frith and the Black Rabbit have you two done?" he demanded as Redwood and Moss were shoved in.

"We tried to start a rebellion," Redwood said, "Woundwort was less than pleased."

"You what?" Campion roared, "You fox brained idiots!"

Moss groaned.

"I thought you'd be pleased."

"That you tried to get yourselves killed in the most creative way possible? Oh, certainly, I'm pleased! I'm ecstatic! How could you be so stupid? They will_ kill_ you!"

The sienna buck halted his tirade when he noticed how scared both the younger rabbits looked.

"Was I that violent with that whole thing? I didn't mean to be."

"It's not you," Redwood stated flatly, "They're going to kill us all. That includes the kits and does."

"There are kits involved?!" Campion launched into a string of curses, which ended in him again demanding how they could be so stupid.

Finally, he ran out of breath and stood silent for a moment.

"We have to do something," he said at last.

"I have an idea," Redwood said, "I don't think Woundwort wants all of us dead. He just wants a few of us made an example of. Leave it to me."

"Redwood, what are you planning?" Moss asked. The sienna buck winked at him.

"Trust me. This will work."

* * *

The next morning, Vervain and two Owslars showed up to get Moss and Redwood.

Campion sighed.

"It will be all right," Moss told him.

"I'd feel better if I knew what Redwood's plan was," Campion said.

"If we die, maybe there will be some others who continue to fight in our memories."

Campion stared at him.

"Moss," he said softly, "You've grown up."

"I know. Goodbye, sir."

"Call me Campion. Remember me as Campion. I will always remember you as Moss."

Moss had no time to answer. The guards led him and Redwood away, leaving Campion alone.

* * *

When they got outside, the two bucks saw that the does and kits were already there.

"Whatever happens," Redwood said, "Don't interfere with anything I try to do."

"Redwood, we're going to die. I'm too confused to interfere."

Moss watched his friend edge forward until he was in front of the does and facing General Woundwort. He turned and whispered a few hurried words to the does, who nodded. Trill said something to Poppy, who said something in reply and bent down to speak to her children.

And then Redwood leaped at General Woundwort, Myca at one of the guard. And Poppy shot away with all three kits trailing after her. Trill followed, scooping up Rowan as she went. Before Moss had time even to register what was going on, Redwood was lying on the ground at Woundwort's feet, Myca was pinned down, and Vervain was dragging Trill back by the ears.

_"Poppy got away?"_ Moss thought as he raced over to Redwood. The sienna buck lifted his head weakly and smiled at him.

"Told you it would work. Would've worked better if Myca followed orders, though. Maybe all the does could have gotten away."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Moss asked.

"You...would've...tried to stop...me," Redwood gasped.

"You're right," Moss agreed. "Can you stand? We need to fix you up."

"Not happening," Redwood said, "Sorry, Moss, it's up to you now..."

The sienna buck's voice trailed off, and a moment later, his spirit left the world of the living.

Moss stood up and turned to Trill and Myca. To his surprise, he saw Appleseed comforting Myca.

_"Appleseed and Myca? When did this happen?"_

Appleseed looked up and met Moss's gaze.

"I'll take care of her," he said, "Go to your Trill."

"Trill!" Moss called, looking around for the sienna and cream doe. At first, he couldn't see her anywhere.

_"Dear Frith, not her too! I just lost one of my best friends! I can't lose her too!"_

Then, he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. And then she was there. And for once, Moss didn't care who was watching. He nuzzled Trill, and they cried together. For Redwood, and for both their dead families. And for all those who would yet fall.

* * *

**Well, that is that. As you probably already know if you have read Woundwort's Return, Moss and Trill survived and fell in love. They escaped from Efrafa along with several other captives, including Campion, and lived happily together on the Down until Moss's death. Poppy and her kits reached Watership Down, and Poppy later fell in love with Fiver. As for Myca and Appleseed, well, let's just say that Appleseed wasn't as perfect as he seemed. There were some things even Vine never knew about the young officer.****Reviews are appreciated!****Next time will probably be a sort of sequel to this starring Fiver and Poppy. This was dedicated to one of my best friends, who is a rebel and proud of it. **


	4. The Unexpected Arrival Part One

**Okey-dokey, I am back! And, yeah. Not much to say about this one, except that it's gonna be short, and yes Fivers11 it's for you. Happy Birthday! Even if your birthday is in seven months, eight days, and three hours. Or if it's now. ;) Anywho, basically this is about Fiver(whose character I still need practice writing about), and Poppy, and probably the kits because I love 'em! Unknown, I have not forgotten you, and next one will grant your wish!**

The Unexpected Arrival Part One: The Dream

Fiver nibbled absentmindedly at a patch of clover. The brown buck sensed something out of place, but he couldn't quite tell what. He could not escape the feeling that the strange dream he had had last night must have something to do with something real. Oddly, Fiver could barely remember anything about his dream. All he saw when he thought of it was a single rabbit. A doe. This alone was enough to give Fiver cause for concern. Never in his memory had he had a meaningless dream. But he had also never had he had a dream where he could only remember a single face.

At that moment, Bigwig came racing up the hill. The big grey buck was obviously quite shaken up by something.

"Bigwig, what on earth?" Hazel asked, intercepting his friend before he could trample anyone.

"Embleer Efrafans!" Bigwig cursed, "They're elil in rabbits' fur, that all they are!"

"Calm down," Hazel said, "What's happened? Has Woundwort come back?"

Bigwig took a deep breath.

"Not...exactly."

"What do you mean?" Fiver asked.

"I think you'd better come see for yourselves," Bigwig said, turning and trotting back down the hill. Hazel and Fiver exchanged glances and then followed him.

They soon arrived at a patch of bushes. Bigwig nodded at them.

"In there. I'll go speak to her, just so she's not too startled."

The grey buck disappeared into the bushes, and reappeared a moment later carrying a kitten, of all things.

"Bigwig?!" Hazel exclaimed in astonishment.

"It's not mine!" Bigwig declared, releasing the tiny brown doe, which was a bad move, because she promptly bit him in the paw.

"Ow!" Bigwig exclaimed, "You're a feisty one, aren't you?"

"I am not feisty, Mr. Fluff Fur!" the kit declared before biting Bigwig again, "I am Corydalis, and I got you!"

"I see you and I shall get along splendidly," Bigwig muttered.

"If it's not yours, whose is it?" Fiver asked.

Bigwig sighed.

"An Efrafan runaway's. She's very upset. I can't get much out of her, but from what I gather, her mate was killed helping her escape. I think maybe Fiver should talk to her."

"Why me?" Fiver squeaked.

Bigwig sighed.

"Because you're small and insignificant and because I _will_ hit you if you don't!"

"Bigwig!" Hazel objected.

"That was a joke," Bigwig mumbled, "Seriously, though. He won't ask questions and upset her like I did."

"All right," Fiver agreed reluctantly, "I'll go."

The brown buck turned and moved slowly into the bushes. When he caught sight of the doe, curled around two kits even tinier than Corydalis, he gasped in shock.

It was the doe from his dream. The same creamy white and yellow fur, the same gentle turquoise eyes.

Fiver could only stare at her. She was even more beautiful than she had been in his dream. And yet she was covered in dirt, and was that blood on her leg? The seer's heart softened in pity.

"Hello," he said softly.

The doe started.

"You're not the big officer type that was here before," she said.

"No," Fiver agreed, "That's Bigwig. My name's Fiver. What's yours?"

"Poppy," the doe said, "I'm Poppy. This is Rowan and Violet. Corydalis is around here somewhere."

"They're very cute," Fiver said. He paused. He didn't want to push her, but the cut on her leg looked bad.

"Might I look at your leg?" he asked, "It's bleeding badly."

Poppy looked down at her leg as if just noticing the wound.

"Oh. Yes, I guess you can look."

Fiver hopped over and gently pressed his paw against the injury.

"I wish Blackberry were here," he muttered.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?" he asked Poppy. She shook her head.

"How did this happen?" he started, then realized he had gone too far. Poppy pulled away and curled around her kittens again.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "I shouldn't have said that..."

Poppy did not reply.

Fiver had no idea what to do or say. He had never had to deal with anything like this before. That was always Hazel's job.

_"And now it is mine," _he thought. The seer peeked through a gap in the bushes and saw that Hazel and Bigwig were...gone?! The seer fought back panic and concentrated. He heard nothing. He hoped they would be all right, but he couldn't leave Poppy defenseless while he went to find them.

Poppy shivered as a blast of cold wind swept through the woods. Fiver sighed. At least until someone else showed up, he would have to stay with Poppy and her kits.

Feeling considerably awkward, the brown rabbit lay down next to Poppy. He wasn't about to let her freeze out here in this sudden cold spell, no matter what Hawkbit might say when he found out. Or Hazel, for that matter.

* * *

Hazel and Bigwig had not intended to abandon Fiver. They had made an unanimous decision to go back to the Down, get Blackberry, and come right back. This they would have done, had not Blackberry been occupied with Primrose. Which caused Hazel to do some very uncharacteristic things.

"Hazel, seriously now," Bigwig said, wondering how an ordinarily very sedate buck could become so excited when his mate was having kits. As if there hadn't been kits before, "This is, what, her third litter?"

"Something always happened to the others," Hazel said grimly, "You know that, Bigwig."

Bigwig sighed. He knew it was true. Something always_ did_ happen to Hazel and Primrose's litters. He hoped this time would be different...

"It'll be all right," he mumbled, "Third time lucky, right?"

"So they say."

"What wrong, lad?" Bigwig asked, even though he already knew, "The war's over, Woundwort won't be back again, everything's fine."

"He will be back," Hazel said, "That runaway proves it."

Suddenly he froze.

"We've forgotten Fiver and that doe!" he yelped, "Idiot, idiot, idiot!"

"You, me, or Fiver?" Bigwig asked.

"What did you do with that little doe kitten?"

"Um...I let Clover take charge of her. She's a pain in the neck. The kit, I mean, not Clover."

"Why are we sitting in here?" Hazel demanded suddenly, "Let's go get Fiver!"

Bigwig eyed him in concern.

"I'll get Fiver. The last time you started talking like this, you ended up shot and lying in a pipe at the edge of Nuthanger Farm, if you'll recall."

Hazel sighed.

"You're right. You go get them, Bigwig, I'll check on Primrose."

The grey nodded and hurried off in the direction of the place where he had last seen Fiver and the others.

* * *

Fiver awoke at once upon feeling a hesitant paw touch his shoulder.

The seer looked up, and to his relief saw Bigwig standing over him.

"Bigwig! Thank Frith! I was worried something had happened to you."

"We went back for Blackberry, but, she's otherwise occupied at the moment. Hazel sent me back to get you and the doe."

"Her name is Poppy," Fiver said without thinking.

"Really?" Bigwig asked, "Made a friend, have you?"

"Hardly. I asked a few too many questions."

"Happens to the best of us," Bigwig said, "Now, would you wake her for me. I don't want to scare her."

Fiver turned to Poppy, and saw that she was already awake.

"I'm coming," she said. She looked at Fiver.

"Will you carry Rowan for me?"

Fiver nodded and picked up the little tan kit gently.

"Where's Corydalis?" Poppy asked.

"I've taken her back to the warren," Bigwig spoke up, "She's safe and warm in there, as you soon will be."

Poppy again looked to Fiver for confirmation. The seer nodded, feeling odd and rather out of place as the only one she seemed to trust.

"All right," Poppy said, "Let's go."

* * *

**Next part shall be up when it is finished! ;) Please review! :)**


	5. The Unexpected Arrival Part Two

The Unexpected Arrival Part Two: The Weasel

Getting Poppy back to the Down had been no easy task. The doe had had to stop and rest time and time again, but finally they had gotten back home. They were met by a jubilant Hazel, who had told them that he was now the father of three very healthy kits.

Poppy, Rowan, and Violet were reunited to Corydalis, and soon the little family were established in their own comfortable burrow.

As the weeks went on, Fiver felt himself being drawn more and more toward the creamy yellow and white doe. He couldn't really explain what made him want to be around Poppy so much. Maybe it was because she was as quiet as he was. And she didn't seem to care that he was different from everybody else on Watership Down. She didn't even mind that he sometimes had visions that sent everyone on the Down into craziness for weeks on end. They started spending so much time together that Hawkbit commented that he wondered why they wouldn't just get together already. Of course, the grey buck had no way of knowing that Poppy's mate Redwood had met a tragic end helping her escape from Efrafa. She had only told Fiver.

One night, as Fiver lay asleep in his burrow, anyone watching would have seen the brown buck twitching and moaning in his sleep.

In his dream, he saw Poppy at the edge of the Down. She was nibbling a bit of clover, but suddenly she looked up and her eyes widened in fear. She turned and raced away, and Fiver saw a flash of red fur. Then he heard a terrified squeal.

Fiver jerked awake. For a moment, he lay shivering, trying to remember what had happened. Then, suddenly, he remembered.

* * *

"Poppy! Poppy!" Fiver called softly as he hopped along the runs to her burrow. Corydalis poked her head out and blinked at him sleepily.

"You're louder than Mr. Fluff Fur! Go back to sleep, Marli went out to eat something!"

"Oh, no!" Fiver cried, turning and racing off. Corydalis shrugged.

"Can't anybody even eat around here anymore?"

* * *

Once Fiver had gotten outside, he hurtled down the slope without a seconds thought. As he ran, his ears began to pick up squeals of fright.

Then he saw her. Cornered by a fox nearly three times her size. As he watched, the fox leaped forward and clawed at Poppy. She cried out in pain.

Fiver suddenly had a sense of feeling an absolute anger building inside him. That fox had scared Poppy! It had hurt her!

Without thinking, Fiver jumped between the fox and Poppy.

"Get away from her!" he cried, "Get back I say!"

* * *

Bigwig trotted along through the warren, minding his own business, when he suddenly tripped over something small and fluffy.

"Ow!" the something squeaked, "Watch it, Mr. Fluff Fur! Fiver already came through here yelling once."

"Fiver was yelling?" Bigwig asked, "That don't sound like him."

"He seemed worried about my mom."

"This could be bad," Bigwig muttered, "Stay here, I'll be back."

Corydalis glared at his rapidly disappearing figure.

"Nobody ever lets me do anything."

* * *

Outside, Bigwig sniffed the air for trouble. He immediately smelled the fox, and followed the scent down the hill. Once there, he skidded to a halt, his expression a mixture of surprise and horror at what he saw.

The fox had just batted Fiver aside like a leaf and was advancing on Poppy. But Fiver lunged at it, shielding Poppy from its attack with his own body.

"Stay back!" he growled, "Or I'll...I'll..."

"You'll what, little longears?" the fox asked, "Stay still, and soon you will be at peace... You and your friend..."

"No, he won't!" cried Bigwig, dashing in and sinking his claws into the fox's back, "Because I don't plan on letting him be at peace, as you say, for a while!"

"Run, lad!" he called to Fiver, "I'll deal with this."

Fiver raced off, pushing Poppy in front of him.

"What about Bigwig?" Poppy asked.

"Bigwig can take care of himself," Fiver said, "We need to get you home."

Poppy turned back to look at him, her turquoise eyes serious.

"You attacked that fox to save me. Why?"

"I, um..." Fiver looked down at his paws.

"I love you," he whispered. He hadn't thought Poppy could hear him, but she did.

"Oh, Fiver," Poppy gasped, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You told me how Redwood died," Fiver said, "You told me everything about you. I wanted you to be my friend. I was afraid if I told you, you wouldn't want to be around me anymore."

"You might have been right," Poppy said, "I was so distraught after losing Redwood... But I couldn't have made it without you, Fiver. You stayed with me that first day, when your friends might have been in trouble. And today, you saved my life. I love you, Fiver. I will always love you."

"Really?"

"Really."

At that moment, Bigwig appeared out of the bushes.

"What's going on here?" he asked in evident confusion, as the utterly oblivious couple stared into each others eyes.

"They are proposing," Corydalis announced, popping out of the bushes on the other side of the ring, "Come, Mr. Fluff Fur. We must leave them now."

"You're awfully formal," Bigwig commented as the little doe pulled him away. "Hoi! That's my paw you're biting!"

Fiver and Poppy still stood staring lovingly into each other's eyes long after Corydalis and Bigwig had gone. Then, as the sun reached the middle of the sky, they turned and went home. Together.

* * *

**Sappy love story is sappy. Anyways...next time, Thorn and Juniper will have to learn to get along if they're going to rescue Aqua and Snowdrop from...something. Please review, it means a lot and I always reply to reviews. :)**


	6. The Mysterious Kidnapping Part One

**Well, apparently I have no life or else writer's block on my original works, because here I am again. (Actually, we're working on an official sequel to Woundwort's Return, but that won't be started on here until probably after Christmas, cause there's some short stuff to write first so it'll make sense. And this is one of those. By request from Unknown(by the way, thanks for the compliment in your last review! I don't think I'm _that_ good, but I'm glad you enjoy my stories!), here we have The Mysterious Kidnapping. In which Thorn and Juniper shall attempt to solve a mystery, and not kill each other in the process...**

* * *

The Mysterious Kidnapping Part One: The Quarrel

It was early morning, just before dawn. Although the sun had not yet risen, Aqua was an early riser, and was usually the first one up.

But this morning, someone had beaten her. The muscular sienna-furred buck sat at the edge of the hill. From a distance, he appeared to be admiring the scenery, but as you drew closer, the scars across his eyes betrayed Thorn's chief trouble in life.

"Thorn, how did you get out here without waking the whole warren?" Aqua asked. What she really meant was 'why didn't you come get me if you needed help getting out here in the middle of the night like you usually do?', but she wasn't going to be quite that blunt if she could avoid it.

"Well, my entire family, all nine of them I may add, are already awake, and I was in the way, as usual," Thorn said with a touch of bitterness.

"Surely it's not that bad?" Aqua asked. She didn't really know, since she had a smaller family by a good bit than Thorn did, but she knew Thorn's parents loved him as much as she did, and they would never think he was the least bit of a nuisance. Or if they did, they wouldn't tell him.

"They have eight kits now, five of whom are just learning how much fun the world can be, according to Blackberry," Thorn said.

Aqua sighed. Thorn's habit of calling his parents by their names sometimes made it difficult to understand what he was talking about when you weren't used to him. And sometimes even when you were.

"Yes? So why does that make you sad?"

"You sound like Blackberry," Thorn muttered, "The point is, Campion and Blackberry are busy with the new kits, and Lilac and Jade have their own lives to live. I feel like a nuisance that somebody always has to keep an eye on to be sure I don't walk off a cliff."

"Well, I don't think you're a nuisance," Aqua said gently, "I like making sure that you don't walk off a cliff."

"Terra doesn't seem to share your enthusiasm," Thorn said dryly, "He threatened to do me an injury the other day if I didn't let you go help him watch your little brothers. And I may add he didn't listen to me when I tried to explain that I never make you do anything. You seem to have decided to be my personal bodyguard."

Aqua groaned. Her twin brother Terra was turning into a very typical teenage male, except for the fact that he very much disapproved of her relationship with Thorn, for reasons that he refused to explain.

"Terra can go dig a burrow, and if he really wants to he can bury himself in it," Aqua said, "I have my friends, and he has his. That's how it is."

"You have one friend," Thorn said, "And it's me. I'm not blind, Aqua... Wait... Never mind. I'm not deaf anyways. You spend all your time looking after me. All the other does your age have a whole group of friends to hang out with. You don't."

"They hang out and talk about bucks," Aqua said, "If I had to listen to Snowdrop gush about Juniper all day, I'd scream!"

At the mention of Juniper, Thorn growled quietly. Aqua, predictably, noticed and proceeded to question him about it.

"What is up with you? Every time anyone mentions Juniper, you get grumpier than Twinleaf when he's been grounded."

"I wasn't aware that it was possible to ground Twinleaf," Thorn said, "And as for Juniper, I don't understand why he can't just grow up. I also don't understand why every single female in this warren under the age of two years thinks he's so attractive."

"You have to remember that Juniper doesn't have parents to tell him how to behave," Aqua said, "He only has Twinleaf, and he doesn't listen to him any more than he'd listen to me or you." She felt a surge of pity for the wayward older buck. She couldn't imagine life without her parents.

"He was very close to Aspen, wasn't he?" Thorn asked. "I didn't come here until long after she did, but I remember he spent a good deal of time with her..."

The sienna buck was interrupted by a sudden attack from behind. Three kits had tackled him as he sat talking.

"I got a Thorn!" one kit, a sienna brown buck with pale green-grey eyes squealed.

"Is that Mossy or Dogwood?" Thorn asked, "You all squeak too much, I can't tell you apart."

"I'm Dogwood," said the kit, "Mossy's on your head."

"I can feel him," Thorn muttered, "So the other one is Ember? Yes, you! Stop biting my leg, you pestilence and plague! Wait, no, that's not Ember, it's Poplar. I think..."

"It's _me_!" a young grey-blue doe announced.

"Hello, Splash, get your teeth out of me!"

"Aw..." Splash muttered, "But I'm not Splash, I'm Poplar!"

"You are not!" Thorn said, "You're most definitely a doe."

"Then I'm Ember."

"Black Rabbit help me," Thorn muttered, "Aqua, which one is which?"

"Mossy's on your head, Dogwood's on your back, Splash is biting you, and Poplar and Ember aren't here yet."

"Children! What have I told you about bothering your brother?" Blackberry asked, coming outside with the two remaining kits, a flaming orange-furred doe named Ember, and a light grey buck, Poplar.

"I can handle them, Blackberry," Thorn said.

"I...I don't doubt you, Thorn. But they need to learn to behave."

Blackberry rounded up the younger kits and led them away. Thorn sighed.

"She apparently doesn't realize that I can tell what she thinks by her tone. She most definitely does not think I can handle them."

"I'm sure she does," Aqua said soothingly.

"I'm sure you don't mean what you say. Don't lie, Aqua. I know you too well to not be able to tell."

Aqua sighed. This was the definite downside of having a best friend who was able to tell what you were thinking by the sound of your voice.

"I don't mean anything by it, Thorn, I just know your mother worries about you not being able to do some things like other rabbits can."

"Which means I shouldn't try?" Thorn snapped, "If I don't try, I'll never know, that's what you told me once!"

"Thorn, I never..."

But he was gone, striding off with all the angry purpose that was so common in him these days. He was always trying to prove himself, usually by doing things that no ordinary rabbit could do, let alone one who lacked sight.

She sighed. As they grew up, it seemed like she and Thorn were finding it harder and harder to go a day without fighting about something.

* * *

Thorn hadn't gone far when he tripped and fell, rolling down the hillside and landing with a painful bump. An ill-timed giggle informed him that a certain black and white buck had noticed.

"The Black Rabbit take you, Juniper, don't laugh at me!" Thorn growled.

Juniper, predictably, laughed.

"Why? You're amusing, aren't you?"

"Why you little..." Thorn snarled, lunging in the general direction of his tormentor. His swipe connected with some part of Juniper, as the other buck cried out in pain and backed away. A moment later, Juniper jumped at Thorn, and the two bucks were soon rolling around in the grass, obviously having a rather nasty fight. Juniper, however, had his standards, and avoided seriously injuring Thorn, pulling away at the first opportunity. Unluckily for Thorn, Campion chose that moment to appear. What the sienna-furred Captain saw was his son, who had very little blood on his body and a great deal of it on his claws, advancing angrily upon Juniper, who was bleeding badly but had barely any blood staining his own claws and teeth.

"Thorn! Juniper!" Campion cried, "Stop this at once!"

Both young bucks immediately turned at the sound of Campion's voice.

"What in the name of Frith is happening here?" Campion asked, fighting to keep calm.

Thorn looked down at his paws, obviously ashamed. Juniper looked equally ashamed, but the black and white buck looked straight at Campion and answered boldly.

"It was my fault, sir. Thorn fell down the hill, and...I laughed at him, sir."

"I see," Campion said, "Thorn?"

"Juniper's right. I lost my temper."

Campion looked from one young buck to the other. His son and one of the most promising Junior Owslars. Why they could not get along, he did not understand, but it worried him. He had made enough enemies in his life to know how dangerous they could be. And he felt doubly protective of Thorn because of his blindness, and the fact that he had gotten him virtually out of the blue on day, although he wouldn't risk telling his son that. Still, he wanted Thorn to avoid making enemies of his warren-mates if at all possible. Thorn, apparently, did not share his sentiment.

"You two need to learn to get along," he said finally, "Now, why don't you two apologize to each other, and we'll forget any of this ever happened."

Juniper and Thorn glared at each other, but they finally mumbled apologies. Just as they had finished, Phlox and Blackavar came stampeding out of the woods up the down. Both were out of breath from running.

"What in Frith's name?" Campion demanded.

"We found tracks close to the Down," Blackavar panted, "Three rabbits at least, maybe a few more than that."

"And..." Phlox looked worried, his pale blue eyes wide and staring, "They took two of our kits! Aqua and Snowdrop have been kidnapped!"

* * *

**Dun dun dun! Next one might not be up until Monday, or it'll be up tomorrow. We'll see.**


	7. The Mysterious Kidnapping Part Two

The Mysterious Kidnapping Part Two: The Quest Begins

Campion was seriously starting to consider giving Phlox a lesson in when to keep his mouth shut. Especially when two young does have been kidnapped, not to announce it when their closest friends/love interests/whatever else were right there.

Because the moment Thorn and Juniper heard the news, they suddenly began agreeing on everything.

"Where did this happen?" Thorn demanded.

"How many rabbits?" Juniper asked, "I'll pummel them!"

"I don't know...I don't know that either," Phlox said, "All I know is the direction they were heading."

"Well then what are we waiting for, we have to go after them!" cried Thorn. Campion placed a restraining paw on his son's shoulder.

"You can't go after them, Thorn. Phlox and Blackavar and I will handle it."

"What do you expect me to do?" Thorn asked, "Sit here and wait for you to come back?"

"You and Juniper go back to Watership Down and tell Hazel where we've gone," Campion said.

"But I want to come!" Juniper protested, "I'm not blind!"

Thorn growled softly, and Campion had to step between the two to prevent another fight.

"Back to the warren you go. Your mother will never forgive me if anything happens to you, Thorn, and that goes the same for Juniper's grandfather."

With that, Campion turned and raced off, with Phlox and Blackavar only a fraction of a paw step behind. As soon as they had gone, Juniper started after them. Thorn sensed his movement and proceeded to question him.

"Where are you going? Even I can tell that Watership Down is the other way."

"I'm not going back to Watership Down," Juniper said, "I'm going to look for Snowdrop and Aqua."

"But Campion said..." Thorn began, but Juniper cut him off.

"I don't care what Campion said, I'm going to look for the does. Besides, it only takes one to deliver a message."

"Oh, no, you don't!" Thorn growled, "I am _not_ going to sit around while you play hero! If you're going to find the does, then I'm coming too!"

"You?" Juniper scoffed, "You'll slow me down."

"No, I won't. I am completely capable of doing anything that you can do, and I'll do it better."

"Fine," Juniper said with a sigh, "Then let's go."

The two bucks tiptoed off after the older rabbits, and to his extreme displeasure, Juniper soon found himself acting as Thorn's eyes as the other buck bumped into one tree after another.

"Not that way, you idiot, there's a brier patch there!" Juniper snapped.

"Thanks," Thorn said, but suddenly Juniper stopped with a gasp.

"What is it?" Thorn asked.

"Tracks. Very faint, looks like they were wiped out almost entirely. And there's Campion, Phlox, and Blackavar's tracks. And here are the does, and...by Frith!"

"What?"

"Look, can't you see? No, wait, you can't, can you? There's two sets of tracks, the obvious prints of a lot of rabbits, and these faint ones. Your dad must have followed the main tracks, but I see Aqua and Snowdrop's among the less obvious ones. Campion and the others are going the wrong way. Good job we came after them, aye?"

"Are you sure about this?" Thorn asked, "For all I know, you're wrong. I have to trust you, and I'm not sure I should."

"I'm sure," Juniper said, "This is my girlfriend's life in the balance, not just yours."

"Aqua," Thorn said stiffly, "Is _not_ my girlfriend. We are just friends, and we plan to keep it that way."

"You say that to everyone," Juniper said, "But what do you say to her?"

"There is nothing whatsoever romantic between us, you impudent runt!" Thorn snarled, sounding for all the world like a certain very distantly related and long gone Captain of Owsla, "Now are we going or not?"

Juniper shrugged.

"Guess so. Follow me. Or, how about I talk and you can follow my voice?"

Thorn sighed.

"Fine."

* * *

Aqua groaned and tried to sit up, but immediately felt herself pressed down by a gentle but firm paw. She looked up and saw a buck standing over her. With a jolt, she realized that he was only about half her age, if that old. He was black, with a grey muzzle and chest. His light sky blue eyes were narrowed to slits, but from suspicion or some other emotion, the young doe could not say.

"Stay down," he whispered.

Next to her, Snowdrop stirred, wakened fully, and then began complaining loudly.

"Where are we? What happened? Why did it happen? I want to go home!"

The black buck sighed.

"Never mind," he murmured, "Your friend has other plans."

At that moment, Aqua's blood ran cold. A large white and black buck had just appeared. He looked like a trained fighter, and as he approached, Aqua saw that his right eye was missing. The young doe had never personally met Captain Cactus, but some of her friends had, and they had told her about the Efrafan who was evil and cold-hearted enough to murder his own brother.

"Night Storm!" he said to the young buck, "Report!"

The black buck looked nervous.

"They both just woke up, Cactus-rah, sir. I haven't had time to question them."

"Then question them, Night Storm, or you'll feel my claws," Cactus said in a matter of fact manner, before turning away to find his next victim.

The unfortunate Night Storm turned to the does with an apologetic look.

"I'm not completely certain what to question you two about," he said, "But I'll have to come up with something."

"You could ask where we're from," Aqua told him, "And our names, and the names of our parents."

"Aqua, don't help him!" Snowdrop squeaked.

"He won't hurt us," Aqua said impatiently, "He's as scared of Cactus as we are, aren't you?"

Night Storm nodded quickly.

"More, probably. He likes bullying us younger ones."

"Where did you all come from?" Aqua asked.

"Most of us are from Efrafa. The rest are hlessil, or rabbits who were outlawed from their own warrens for one reason or the other."

He looked around nervously.

"Can you answer your questions before Cactus comes back? I don't want to die."

Aqua opened her mouth to reply, but Snowdrop cut in.

"We can't! What will my father say?"

"You know, these rabbits can probably figure out without our help," Aqua said, "There's no point in letting him be hurt for no reason. I can't see that telling him three things will hurt anyone."

Snowdrop could find no reply to that, and mercifully shut up.

"Well, Night Storm, I'll tell you all you need to know," Aqua began...

* * *

**Well, that's that. Next part will be up soon. Some time this week anyways...**


	8. The Mysterious Kidnapping Part Three

The Mysterious Kidnapping Part Three: The Memory

Thorn and Juniper had been making fairly good progress all day, going at an almost insane pace, faster than Thorn could easily manage, though he didn't want to say that. Finally, though, he knew they had to stop. His paws were rubbed raw, and every part of him ached from the many times he had collided with trees and brambles that day.

"Juniper, why don't we take a rest? I'm sure our enemies will."

He heard a thump as Juniper landed hard on the ground.

"We have to catch them," Juniper said, "If you don't care about getting Snowdrop and Aqua back, then you can stay here."

"I want to find them as much as you do," Thorn said, "But we can't help them if we're exhausted when we reach them."

"You don't really care," Juniper scoffed, "I know you just came because you want to prove you can do it. You don't really care, or you'd want to keep going too. I know it's true."

"You. Know. Nothing!" Thorn snarled.

"Prove it!" Juniper challenged.

Thorn stepped forward, and to his great surprise, immediately found himself rising off the ground. From far below him, he heard Juniper laugh.

"Juniper? What's going on here?"

Juniper laughed as he looked up at Thorn, who was caught in a net suspended from a tall tree.

"Who's the smart one now?" he chuckled, "You're caught in a net, you idiot!"

"Traitor! Scum! Efrafan!" Thorn cursed.

"Hey!" Juniper protested, "Don't you dare call me an Efrafan!"

"Why not? You are, aren't you?"

"I am not an Efrafan!" Juniper screamed, "They killed my parents! I have nothing in common with them!"

Thorn was temporarily speechless. He had never heard such pain in a rabbit's voice as he heard in Juniper's now. He was still trying to make his tongue work when he felt the net beginning to move. And then he landed hard on the ground. He gasped in pain upon impact, but almost immediately, he felt someone pushing against him, helping up.

"Juniper, what are you..."

"Shut up," Juniper said, "We're stopping for the night, so shut up. You win."

"Juniper..." Thorn stopped. He would hate it if the other buck started prying into his personal history, so he wouldn't ask about it, even though his curiosity had been aroused.

* * *

That night, Thorn woke in the dead of night. At first, he was unsure what had wakened him. Then he heard it again. A quiet sob of pure anguish.

"Juniper?" Thorn whispered. His sightless eyes searched the area uselessly. "Juniper?"

Another sob was the only reply. Thorn reached out with his paw until he encountered fur, which he judged by its coarse and apparently ill groomed condition to be Juniper's.

"Why are you crying?" Thorn asked softly.

"I'm a coward, an idiot, and a bully to boot," Juniper sobbed, apparently not caring that he was divulging his darkest secrets to his enemy, "My parents would be so ashamed of me."

Thorn said nothing. He was not sure what to think of this new, vulnerable side of Juniper.

"My whole family died because I didn't stay in the burrow!" Juniper wailed, "I should have stayed inside like marli told me to, and then General Woundwort never would have found us. He never would have killed them!" He swiped his paw at his cheek, trying to wipe away a tear, forgetting for a moment that Thorn could not see him.

"The only good thing I ever did was rescuing Alfalfa. The _only_ thing. After that, you Watershippers found me. I didn't want to stay, I knew there'd only be trouble, but you were all so nice to me, I thought...I thought this time it would be different. I was wrong! I'm a curse!"

Thorn realized with a jolt that Juniper, who he had looked up to ever since he had come to Watership Down, and at the same time, had hated, was just as vulnerable as he was. If not more.

"None of this was your fault. And your parents didn't die because of you. Your actions may have led to their deaths, but Woundwort killed them in the end. You did a noble thing by saving Alfalfa. And since then you have been very helpful on Watership Down. You're one of my father's best Owsla trainees, he said so himself."

Juniper sniffed.

"Really?"

"Really. He told my mother the other day he thought you might become the Captain of Owsla one day."

"I want that," Juniper said, "I want to be the best rabbit I can be."

"Then let's go save our does," Thorn said.

Juniper smiled grimly.

"Let's."

* * *

Blackberry had become extremely worried, like everyone else on the Down, because of the disappearance of the seven assorted rabbits two days ago. But on the second worry-filled night, she was awakened by a movement on the burrow. A shadowy figure stood in the entrance. Blackberry supressed a scream as she recognized Campion, just in time to avoid a panic.

"Campion! You're back! Where have you been?"

"Didn't Thorn and Juniper tell you?" Campion asked.

"I haven't seen them in two days. I thought they were with you..."

"Oh, dear Frith!" Campion gasped.

"What's wrong?"

"I'll explain later. Stay here, Blackberry, I'll be back soon!"

* * *

Aqua and Snowdrop had been traveling with Cactus' army for two days now. The young does were mostly guarded by Night Storm, and his friends Vesper, Rue, and Rockrose. Night Storm and the two does were nice enough, but Vesper could be downright mean without any warning. But Cactus had decided that as Hazel-rah's daughter, Snowdrop was too valuable to lose. And he didn't want to risk killing Aqua, since he had no way of knowing that Snowdrop and she were not close friends.

Still, Aqua was starting to wonder if anyone would ever come rescue them. She hoped they would, but Night Storm had told her that a false trail had been laid for the Watershippers to follow. But there was one rabbit she had the utmost faith would stop at nothing to get her back. Thorn.

Suddenly, she heard Snowdrop gasp.

"Aqua, look!"

The doe turned and followed Snowdrop's gaze. And there, at the edge of the trees behind them, she saw two bucks. One was small, and black and white patched. But the other was a large sienna brown buck with scars across his face and back.

"Thorn!" she breathed.

* * *

**Next part will be the last part. Please review! :)**


	9. The Mysterious Kidnapping Part Four

The Mysterious Kidnapping Part Four: The Return

Thorn sighed.

"Juniper, next time there's an army in front of me, tell me first."

Juniper gulped.

"I didn't know there was an army. Not this big of one anyway."

"We're going to die in the near future, aren't we?"

Juniper surveyed the hrair times hrair rabbits in front of them.

"Possibly. But the Owsla saying is, 'who dares, wins', so maybe we'll win anyway."

"I don't think that applies to two outnumbered half-trained morons like us," Thorn pointed out.

"Are you calling me a moron?"

"I called myself one too..."

"Aw, shut up and help me fight these bandits," Juniper grumbled, as several of Cactus's band approached.

"You're forgetting something," Thorn said, "I can't see."

"Well, then what do you want to do?"

"Can you hold them?"

Juniper grinned.

"Watch me!"

"Stay here, and keep them distracted," Thorn said, "I'll get the does, and come back for you."

"If you come back for me, I will warn you, it'll be a trip in vain," Juniper warned. He could see the army, and most of these thugs could juggle him and three others his size without an effort.

"I'll be back!" Thorn called, before springing off into the trees. As he ran, he congratulated himself on those early morning practice sessions without Aqua's assistance. Then, he bumped into a tree and decided to concentrate on the path in front of him. As he ran, he suddenly felt as if he could see the way in front of him. It was as if some creature had lent him enough sight that he could run on without bumping into anything. Ahead of him, he heard footsteps, and then a familiar voice cried out.

"Thorn! Don't move!"

He skidded to a halt.

"Aqua? Where are you? What's wrong?"

"Don't come any closer, Thorn!" Aqua squealed.

The voice of Cactus, which Thorn remembered will from his days in Efrafa, cut into the conversation.

"Come here, or I will kill her. You know I do not joke, Thorn."

From behind Cactus, who had his claws at Aqua's throat, Snowdrop stared in horror at the trap the evil rabbit had cunningly laid. In between Thorn and the three other rabbits was a clump of bushes. From her position, Snowdrop could see a glint of metal there. From the horror in Aqua's voice, she knew the other doe had seen it too, and was trying to warn Thorn away from the bushes.

"Don't listen to him!" Aqua squealed, "Run away, Thorn!"

"But he'll kill you," Thorn said, "I know him, Aqua!"

"Thorn, stay away, please!"

Thorn's sightless eyes darted round the area. He could see nothing, but he could feel the danger in the air. Something bad would happen, whatever he chose. What would happen to him if he followed Cactus' orders, he did not know, but he knew, it was him or Aqua. And he would not let Cactus kill Aqua.

He took a deep breath, for all he knew, his last breath, and lunged forward.

* * *

Juniper had just discovered that none of the veterans had been lying when they said Efrafans were just plain hard to fight. The young buck was tired of the relentless attacks from the fierce warriors, but still they came on. He felt his paws beginning to go numb. With a sinking feeling, Juniper realized that even if Thorn did make it back in time to bail him out of this, he would be nothing more than a dead body in a few moments. Then, he heard something behind him, and the Efrafan soldier who had been trying to sneak up on him from behind gave a cry of pain. Juniper turned in astonishment, and beheld Campion, Phlox, Blackavar, Twinleaf, and a good portion of the Watership Owsla emerging from the trees.

"Captain Campion? Grandpa? Where'd you come from?"

"Would've been here sooner, but we've been following a false trail for days," Campion said, "Where's Thorn?"

"Cactus took the does and made a run for it," Juniper exclaimed, "Thorn went after them."

"Twinleaf, can you and the others hold them?" Campion asked, "I'll take Phlox and Blackavar and go after Cactus."

"I'm coming too," Juniper said stubbornly.

Campion surveyed the younger buck. He looked half dead to the Owsla Captain, but there was a fire in his eyes that warned Campion that Juniper would not be left behind.

"Fine."

Twinleaf cast an approving glance at his grandson.

"Good lad. Call of duty and all that, go save the maiden in distress."

"Stop it, Grandpa, you're embarrassing," Juniper said as he dashed off after the others.

As he ran, it never occurred to him that Thorn would have run into much trouble. Surely he and the two does could take Cactus. But when they ran out into the clearing, Juniper's heart immediately sank. The does were fine, but Thorn was lying still on the ground with something shiny around his neck. Even Juniper knew what that meant. Somehow, Thorn had been lured into a Shining Wire.

Juniper didn't think to check and see whether or not Thorn was dead. He was filled with rage, from the tips of his long ears to his powerful back legs.

The young buck cleared the bushes in a single flying leap and hurled himself at the now completely unprepared Cactus. It seemed as if he was seeing through a red mist as he attacked. He was fighting for his life, yes, but more important, for the does' lives, and he was exacting his vengeance for what Cactus had done to Thorn.

"Juniper, stop!" Snowdrop screamed, "You'll kill him!"

The mist dimmed a little, but there was still a murderous light in Juniper's eyes as he looked at his friend.

"You saw what he did to Thorn! He has to be stopped before anyone else dies!"

Then he felt someone pulling him off of Cactus. He struggled, but a firm grip pinned him to the ground. He felt a blinding pain in his head, and then all went dark.

* * *

To Thorn's very rational mind, it seemed that the only way to get something off when it was around your neck was by struggling. But everyone had told him that if he ever got caught in a wire, he needed to lie absolutely still until help arrived. However, it seemed he could do neither. Every time he decided on one, the other popped back into his head. So mostly he lay there twitching, until he finally blacked out.

When he woke up again, he felt strangely different. For one thing, the wire seemed to be gone. This immediately convinced him that he had died and gone to the Shadow Land. The other thing was that he was fairly sure he could hear what he imagined the rabbit version of an angle to sound like.

"Thorn," she said, "Campion's got the wire off. Wake up! Thorn!"

_"If Campion got the wire off, then I must not be dead,"_ he decided. Still, he thought he would check.

"Am I alive?" he asked, "Or am I dead?"

"Thorn, you're alive!" the mysterious angel voice cried.

"Who is this? Where am I?"

"Thorn, it's me, Aqua. Are you all right?"

"Aqua? I'm not dead?"

"If you were dead, would I be talking to you?"

"I was afraid Cactus went back on his word and killed you anyways."

"No, Snowdrop and I are fine. And so is everyone else."

"Who's everyone?"

"My father, your father, Blackavar, Twinleaf..."

"Juniper! Where is Juniper?" Thorn exploded.

"I had to knock him out," Campion supplied, "He was going to kill Cactus. I couldn't let that happen."

"Where is Cactus?"

"He got away," Twinleaf said moodily, "Him and all that portion of his crew that we didn't kill. All thanks to your dear father, the ever merciful!"

"You would have done the same in my place," Campion replied.

"You can bet your tail I wouldn't!" Twinleaf retorted.

Campion sighed.

"Would you like to talk to your friend, Thorn? I think he's waking up."

Thorn nodded.

"I need to tell him how much of an idiot he is."

"Right here, and you're the idiot!" Juniper said, "Didn't anyone ever tell you about Shining Wires? Didn't you see the blasted thing?"

"As you so enjoy telling me," Thorn said pointedly, "I'm blind."

"Hey, um, I'm sorry about that," Juniper said, "You saved the does, not me. You're a hero."

"I couldn't have saved them if you hadn't held off the army for me. I guess we make a pretty good team."

"Yeah," Juniper said, "I guess we do."

* * *

**Well, it's done! And I apologize for the wait, I was slammed by writer's block. Hope ya'll liked the story! :) **


	10. The Rise of Woundwort Part One

**Hello again! :) Well, this time, we're going even farther back in time: all the way to the days when General Woundwort first arrived in Efrafa. This is basically about how he took leadership, and also there's some nice backstory for our favorite friends/enemies, Campion and Vervain(could I write a story without them?) And also, Twinleaf is here! Well, without boring you further, allow me to present, The Rise of Woundwort.**

The Rise of Woundwort Part One: The Arrival

It was a clear, cloudless morning in late winter. Despite the blue sky and brilliant sun, the air was bitterly cold. A small rabbit warren stood in a clearing, a lonely, twisted tree overhanging it. A few rabbits dug through the deep snow in hopes of finding a bit of grass, but most were below ground, huddled together, trying to keep warm, and forget their hunger.

However, on the fringe of the woods, two small rabbits could be seen. They were only kits, and very young kits at that. One, a dark sienna brown buck, paused and looked back at his companion, a charcoal-colored buck, who was floundering hopelessly through the deep drifts and complaining loudly.

"Come on, Vervain," he squeaked, "Stop whining and be heroic for once."

"I don't want to be heroic, I want to go inside!" Vervain wailed, "Why did you drag me out here anyways, Campion?"

"They're starving," Campion said, nodding toward the warren, "If we can find food, we'll be heroes."

"Or we'll be inside an elil's stomach first," Vervain said nervously, "They're as hungry as we are."

Campion had paused and was pawing curiously at a growth on a tree. Vervain rolled his eyes.

"Might as well get ahead of you, so you don't keep telling me to keep up," he muttered, He was nearly two weeks older than Campion, and considered himself the leader, but Campion always seemed to have the best ideas, and the better skill at everything for such a young kit. Vervain was getting very tired of being told to be more like Campion.

Campion did not hear or see him go, and so he was very surprised, a few moments later, to hear Vervain squeal in fear.

"Campion, help me!"

The sienna-furred buck immediately raced off in the direction of his friend's voice, but when he found him, he stopped dead in his tracks. Vervain was being held upside down by the biggest rabbit Campion had ever seen. The huge black rabbit appeared to be examining Vervain closely. A smaller grey buck appeared from behind the black buck and growled at Campion.

"Put him down!" Campion roared. Well, he tried to roar, but it came out as a squeak. All three of the other rabbits stared at him in astonishment. Campion gulped. "Please."

The big black rabbit met his gaze for one long moment. Campion stared fearlessly back. He didn't know who this big hlessi was, but he was scaring Vervain, and he felt responsible for dragging the other rabbit out into the woods. Finally, the huge buck set Vervain down. The charcoal-furred kit raced over and cowered behind Campion.

"Where are your parents?" the hlessi asked. His voice was gruff, but not terribly mean.

"Home," Campion said.

"Do you have a warren, little rabbit?"

"It's called Efrafa, sir."

"Efrafa," the black rabbit paused, as if savoring the word. When he spoke again, his tone was almost friendly.

"I apologize for frightening your friend. I am called Woundwort. What are your names?"

"I'm Campion. He's Vervain."

"And my friend here is Thistle," Woundwort said, gesturing to the grey buck, "We're tired, lost, and hungry. Would we be welcome in your warren?"

"You can come, but there's no food," Campion said.

Woundwort nodded, noticing the pitifully thin condition of the two young rabbits.

"I understand. But a dry place to sleep will be enough to satisfy us."

Campion turned and led the way back to Efrafa. When they got there, they were halted by the Captain of Owsla, Twinleaf, who was acting as Chief after their Chief, Bulrush-rah, had died.

Twinleaf's kind green eyes surveyed the little group and settled on Woundwort, but it was Campion he spoke to.

"Who's this, lad?"

"This is Woundwort, Captain Twinleaf," Campion said, "We found him in the woods. Well, Vervain found him."

Twinleaf looked the stranger up and down.

"You're welcome here, of course," he said, "Although you'll find the warren in a pretty poor state."

"I'm sure I don't mind," Woundwort replied, "I've seen warrens destroyed in my time, and I've seen them in poorer states than this. I might have some ideas that could help your Chief Rabbit."

"Our Chief Rabbit," Twinleaf said coldly, "Is dead. I am acting as Chief until a successor is agreed on."

"I see."

Twinleaf turned to the kits, and noticed Thistle for the first time. His eyes softened.

"Vervain, Campion, who's this?"

Thistle stepped forward boldly.

"I'm Thistle, sir."

"Well, Thistle, how would you like a warm bed tonight, and to meet some other kits your age?"

"I'd rather stay with Woundwort, sir."

Twinleaf glanced at Woundwort, who nodded to Thistle.

"I'll find you tomorrow. Do you good to meet some others your age."

Thistle sighed.

"Yes, Master Woundwort."

Twinleaf smiled.

"Right then. Vervain, may he go with you? I'm sure Ashkin will take care of him."

"One more won't hurt her," Vervain muttered. He turned to Thistle. "Come on."

Campion started to follow them, but Twinleaf's voice halted him.

"Campion? Isn't your burrow the other way?"

"Yes, sir, but..."

Twinleaf laughed.

"Yes, I know you were going with Vervain. He can't always have you to protect him, lad. He has to face life alone sometime."

"Yes, sir, but..." Campion stopped, glanced at Woundwort, and then continued. "It's just, I have a marli and parli, and I have Ivy, but Vervain doesn't have anyone."

"Run along home now," said Twinleaf, "Vervain will be fine."

Campion cast one last reluctant glance at his friend, then scampered off. When he reached the burrow where he lived with his family, he hesitated at the entrance, looked himself over to be sure his fur was tidy, then skipped in.

His mother, a tall peach-furred doe named Lily, looked over at him fondly.

"There you are, Campion! I was beginning to worry."

Ivy sniffed him suspiciously.

"You smell of woods."

"I went to the woods with Vervain, and we met these two hlessil, their names are Woundwort and Thistle, and..." he trailed off as he noticed the annoyed look on Ivy's face.

"I never get to do anything!" Ivy squealed, "Mummy, why don't they ever take me with them?"

"Dearest, you're a doe."

"Then I want to be a buck," Ivy decided.

"What this, then?"

Campion's father, Greywind, had just entered the burrow.

"I see a very pretty little doe, and a very brave little buck. You'll grow into fine rabbits in your own time, and in your own way. So dry your tears, Ives, and tell me about your day!"


	11. The Rise of Woundwort Part Two

Rise of Woundwort Part Two: The Training Begins

The next day, Campion and Ivy scampered out to meet their friends for silflay. Vervain was already there, along with Thistle, and a young doe named Columbine.

"Not...that there is any silflay," Ivy said, scratching at the dry earth moodily.

"I'm sure there will be some soon," Columbine said optimistically. The pretty gold and cream doe smiled at her friends.

"After all, winter can't last much longer, can it?"

"No, I suppose not," said Vervain peevishly, "But what do we do while we wait for it to be done?"

"Uh...uh... I don't know."

At that moment, Twinleaf appeared. The brown buck smiled at the group of kits.

"Campion, Vervain, how would you like to start Junior Owsla training? Thistle, you can come too, if you want. I've already checked with Woundwort, and he says it's fine."

Vervain and Campion grinned at each other.

"Owsla training!"

Ivy pouted.

"Why can't I go? I can knock Vervain over!"

Twinleaf sighed.

"You, my dear girl, are a doe."

The Captain of Owsla moved off, followed by Campion, Vervain, and Thistle.

Ivy sighed.

"I hate being a doe. Columbine, let's be bucks!"

The spotted doe shook her head.

"I don't think I'd like that very much, Ivy."

"_I_ would!"

A chocolate-colored doe had been listening to the conversation.

"My brothers get to go, and they're even younger then you are! Why can't does be in the Owsla? It's not fair!"

Ivy took a liking to the other doe instantly.

"What's your name? I'm Ivy."

"Bramble. My brothers are Vine and Gorse, but they don't matter. Hey, we could teach ourselves to be warriors, if the bucks won't let us!"

Ivy grinned.

"Good idea! Come on, let's go!"

The two new friends moved off together, leaving Columbine alone. The little doe stared after them for a moment, then shrugged and hopped off by herself.

* * *

Campion, Vervain, and Thistle stood in a group of other Owsla hopefuls. Campion looked around. Some of the rabbits were very young, he realized, much younger than he was.

"All right, everyone, listen up!" Twinleaf barked, "Today, you are going to begin your training, which, if you survive, will lead you to becoming an Owsla officer one day. Now, for our first exercise, I would like to separate you into groups of three. I understand some of you are still very young, young enough that if we had more rabbits, I'd wait until next spring to train you. But, as it is, I'm sure the older rabbits will look out for the younger."

Twinleaf then proceeded to separate them into groups. Much to Campion's annoyance, he and Vervain were not allowed to be in the same group. Vervain was with Thistle, and another buck named Gorse. As Twinleaf assigned groups, Campion discovered that he was in a group with Phlox and Vine. The trouble was that he had no idea who that was.

Finally, he spotted two bucks who appeared to be lacking the third member of their group. He decided to risk embarrassment, and walked over.

"Are you two Phlox and Vine?" he asked.

A wiry chocolate-furred buck grinned cheekily at him.

"Maybe, maybe not. What do you think?"

"Aw, Vine, don't," the other, a white buck, protested. "I'm Phlox, he's Vine. Are you Campion?"

"Yes, I'm Campion, and I think I know which one is the troublemaker."

"Phlox is just more convincing at being perfect," Vine said playfully.

"I see," said Campion, although he did not.

At that moment, Twinleaf began calling out orders.

"All right, each team will be allowed out of the warren to go to the woods for one hour. You can form alliances with the other team, or work alone, but I warn you, we have set up some surprises for you all. Nothing dangerous, but if an elil wanders through, shout out, and someone will come. Got it?"

The young rabbits nodded, and then started off.

"So, should we find some of the others and go with them?" Phlox asked nervously, "There's safety in numbers, right?"

"But then we'll have to share whatever we find out there with whoever we're with," Vine said, "I think we should go alone."

Campion sighed. This was going to be a long training exercise.

"All right, you two, let's get going," he said.

The three young bucks trotted off, and as they did, Campion couldn't help but notice that most of the others were already forming alliances. He considered trying to convince Vine to let them form an alliance, but the younger buck seemed intent on ignoring both Phlox and Campion, so Campion let him lead the way into the woods.

They hadn't gone far, however, when Campion's keen ears picked up the sound of movement nearby.

"We're being followed," he announced. Vine laughed.

"Jumpy, aren't ya? It's just one of the other groups."

"I don't know, Vine," Phlox said, "It sounds awfully big for them..."

At that moment, Woundwort came hurtling out of the trees toward them. Vine and Phlox exchanged looks of mixed terror and confusion, but Campion leaped forward and managed to land on Woundwort's back, realizing that this must be one of the obstacles Twinleaf had warned them about.

"What are you doing?" Vine demanded.

"It's a test," Campion cried, "Come on!"

Phlox and Vine hesitated, and in that instant, Woundwort was upon them. The huge black rabbit swept the two smaller bucks off their paws with a single swipe, then turned his attention to getting Campion off of his back. As it was only an exercise, and it did not serve Woundwort's purposes to kill the kit, he planned only to shake him off. But that was harder than he thought. The young sienna buck hung on with a grim determination, until Woundwort was finally forced to stop, or risk hurting the young rabbit.

"You win," he panted, "Come down."

"If I come down, will you hold to your word?" Campion growled.

Woundwort chuckled.

"You're a determined little buck, aren't you? Yes, I'll keep my word."

Campion released his hold on Woundwort, and the black buck stood still while he climbed down. Then, Woundwort took a good look at him.

"What's your name, young rabbit?"

"Campion."


	12. The Rise of Woundwort Part Three

Rise of Woundwort Part Three: Twinleaf Grows Suspicious

As the weeks passed, Twinleaf noticed two things. One, that Woundwort was getting a huge following among the young bucks, and two, that the big black buck was beginning to ease into a little more authority every day. Being a sensible rabbit, Twinleaf immediately confided in his mate, Aspen.

"It's just, oh, I don't know, but there's something about him, Aspen. Something dangerous and deadly, and the young ones don't see it at all. Even Campion looks up to him now. I'm supposed to be the Chief, well, not the Chief, but the leader anyways, and I don't know what to do!"

Aspen sighed.

"Twinleaf, do you think you might be overreacting just a touch? He's probably just an ambitious young rabbit, that's all."

Twinleaf shook his head.

"I've been an Owslar too long to believe that, Aspen. He's not just ambitious, he's hungry. Hungry for power, and I suspect he'll do anything to gain it."

* * *

It turned out that Campion's father, Greywind, felt the same way. The tall Owslar immediately confided in Twinleaf, not wanting to worry Lily, who, as he said, was expecting kits.

"Aspen is too, but she's a sensible one, and she'd notice there was something worrying me anyways," Twinleaf said, "But this worries me, Grey. What kind of future are our children going to have in the Efrafa Woundwort wants? What will their kits be like? And the kits of their kits? Something has to be done, Greywind. If we can't stop Woundwort, we're going to have to at least find out what he plans to do."

As the two bucks talked, they had no clue that a small grey buck was listening in on their conversation. Thistle wasn't Woundwort's only spy, but he was one of the best. The young buck waited until Twinleaf and Greywind had gone, the he slipped out of the shadows, running off to report to his Chief.

When Thistle reached Woundwort's burrow, he immediately blurted out his whole story to the black buck. Woundwort laughed.

"So Twinleaf and Greywind think they can stop me, do they? We'll prove them wrong, Thistle, but not yet. We must gather more followers, and then, we will act."

* * *

So the days slipped by, and Campion, Ivy, Vervain, and their friends began to grow up. And as they grew up, their friendships started to change with their growing bodies. Vervain and Campion were no longer inseparable, for Vervain had begun spending nearly all his time with Thistle and several other rabbits his own age, which left Campion to make friends with the younger rabbits like Phlox and Vine. But nearly all of them already had their own friends, and wanted nothing to do with the smart sienna buck. So he started to become what he would be for most of his life: a loner. Other kits avoided him, the silent, watchful, young rabbit with the brooding eyes. But Woundwort, oddly, went out of his way to befriend the younger buck. Ever since that day in the woods, Woundwort had been astonished by the bravery and determination Campion possessed. The black buck knew exactly who he would choose for his Captain of Owsla one day. The trouble was winning Campion over. But slowly, ever so slowly, Woundwort was befriending the distant young buck. Campion admired Woundwort, but he had trouble forgetting the first day he had seen him, when he had thought the other rabbit might kill Vervain. It was during this time that both Aspen and Lily had their kits. Aspen had three kits, Leao and Lizabella, two very sweet little does, and Yarrow, a black and white buck. Only one of Lily's kits lived, a little buck they called Moss. Campion absolutely adored his little brother, and no one saw much of him for a while, as he spent a great part of every day playing with his little brother, sometimes actually forgetting to go to Owsla training.

Twinleaf and Greywind continued their detective work, and when Greywind became ill, Twinleaf continues on his own. It was during this time that the brown buck overheard a terrible conversation between Woundwort and several of his supporters among the older rabbits.

"There are so many kits being born lately," Woundwort said, "And many of the does are having few survive in their litters after the hard winter. What would you all say if I suggested we summon all the does with kits to us, then take the strongest kits and pair them with the strongest doe, and so on?"

Twinleaf stifled an outraged growl as the other rabbits nodded.

"An excellent idea, my Chief!" one of them said.

Woundwort smiled.

"Then we will put it into action, Spread the word to all the does with kits to come here tomorrow."

The other rabbits nodded and quickly hurried off. Twinleaf, meanwhile, turned and raced off down the run. He had to find Lily and Aspen, and fast.

* * *

When Twinleaf reached his friends' burrow, he found the entire family, including Campion and Ivy, at home. Greywind must have seen from his old friend's face that something was wrong, because he immediately stood up.

"What's wrong, Twinleaf?"

The brown buck glanced meaningfully at the kits. Lily took the hint and, turning to the kits, she said:

"Ivy, Campion, why don't you go outside and play with your friends for a while?"

Ivy shrugged.

"Sure, marli. I need to meet Bramble anyways."

Campion seemed reluctant to leave.

"Can Moss come too?" he asked.

"Absolutely not!" Lily said, "He's much too little."

Moss, who had been sleeping curled up next to his mother, opened one eye.

"Go wif Ca-ion?"

"Who's Ca-ion?" Campion asked in evident confusion.

"It's you, of course," his father said, "Now run along, lad."

Campion trotted off, and once he had gone, Greywind turned to Twinleaf.

"What's the matter, Twinleaf? Is there something we should know?"

Twinleaf poured out the whole story, and when he had finished, there was a long silence. Finally, Greywind spoke.

"That settles it then. We have to leave Efrafa tonight."

"I don't think it would be safe for us to go together," Lily said slowly, "We'd be more likely to be noticed that way."

Twinleaf sighed.

"I hate to agree, but you're right."

"We'll take our kits down the river," Greywind said, "Campion and Ivy at least can swim."

"What about Moss?" Lily asked worriedly.

"I can carry him," Greywind told her.

"I know the back ways out of Efrafa," Twinleaf said, "Aspen and I can take our kits that way."

"Then may Firth be with you, old friend," Greywind told him.

"And with you," Twinleaf replied.

* * *

**One thing: Lizabella was my sister's name pick, not mine. And you'd do well to think about someone mentioning a Lizabella back in Woundwort's Return...bet nobody knows who! :)**


	13. The Rise of Woundwort Part Four

Rise of Woundwort Part Four: The First Escape from Efrafa

That night, Twinleaf, Aspen, and their kits emerged silently from their burrow. Twinleaf had explained everything to Aspen, and she had agreed that they had to leave.

Twinleaf led the way down through the silent burrows to a small back entrance. The brown buck had discovered the entrance as a kit, and he and Greywind had often met there to talk.

Yarrow and Leao were held gently in their parents mouths, and Lizabella, a.k.a. Liz, was clinging onto Twinleaf's fur. Twinleaf kept glancing back at the little doe. He was confident this escape could work. He only wished that Greywind and his family could be making this journey with them.

* * *

Campion was awakened in the middle of the night by a quiet touch.

"Who's there?" he muttered sleepily.

"Campion, listen," his mother said urgently, "You need to get up and come with us now. Don't ask me any questions, sweet lad, just come."

The sienna-colored buck got to his feet immediately. He had never heard his mother speak like this before.

The rest of their family was already waiting at the entrance of the burrow, along with two of Greywind's friends, Tarragon and Blaze, as well as their families. As Campion and Lily joined them, Greywind hurried off. They were soon out in the open air. Greywind made straight for the river.

"Parli, where are we going?" Campion asked, "What is happening?"

* * *

A pair of black eyes followed the small family's progress. Vervain, who had been detailed to watch Greywind, while Thistle shadowed Twinleaf, immediately figured out what the grey rabbit was planning. He paused for a second before he turned back to Efrafa. Perhaps that pause signified that he felt a small touch of remorse about what he was going to do to his best friend. But it was only the briefest pause before he raced away. His duty was to his Chief. General Woundwort.

When he got back to Efrafa, he immediately raced to Woundwort's burrow, and found Thistle already there.

"Vervain?" Woundwort asked, "Is this about Greywind?"

"He's trying to take his family out down the river!"

Woundwort turned to several of the Owslars, whom he had apparently already summoned.

"Go with Vervain. Capture or kill the family. But let me make it clear: I want Campion alive."

Vervain sighed. Apparently he couldn't get rid of Campion, after all.

* * *

Twinleaf and Aspen had just cleared the tunnel, when they heard shouts from all around them.

"I see them, over there!"

"Stop now, Twinleaf, and we won't attack!"

Twinleaf sighed.

"Run!" he whispered, "Run like El-ahrairah!"

And they did. So fast did they run, that Twinleaf never noticed the tiny kit fall from his back and land in the grass. And none of the Efrafans noticed the tiny doe who slipped from the shadows, gently picked up Liz, and disappeared again.

* * *

Greywind's ear twitched.

"Someone's coming!"

"Into the water!" Blaze squealed, "Before they catch us all!"

A panic ensued, and Greywind was powerless to stop it. Lily, realizing this, quickly gathered Campion, Ivy, and Moss, and guided them to a sheltered outcropping.

"Campion, Ivy, I want you to hide here, and whatever you see, or hear, don't come out, all right?"

"Yes, mum," Campion said.

"Take care of your brother and sister, sweet lad," Lily said. And then she turned away, back to the others.

The three kits stayed perfectly still behind the rocky outcropping. Moss, half asleep, was oblivious to what happened. As Campion watched the Efrafans advancing on the little group of rabbits, he suddenly realized what was happening.

"Ivy," he whispered, "Don't look. Please don't watch."

The peach-colored doe glanced up at him, surprised by the intensity of her brother's voice. The look in his emerald eyes frightened her, and she buried her face in his fur. As an extra precaution, Campion placed his paws over Moss's ears. He did not want his little brother to hear this. But_ he_ saw and heard it all.

* * *

Twinleaf and Aspen had managed to outrun the Efrafans...almost. Aspen was limping from a gash on her back paw, and could barely run.

"Twinleaf?" she said worriedly, "Where's Liz?"

The brown rabbit's green eyes widened.

"I...I...NO!"

"Twinleaf..."

"How could I be so stupid?" Twinleaf cried, "How did I not notice? I'm sorry, Aspen, so sorry!"

The black and white doe nuzzled him.

"You did your best, Twinleaf."

The sounds of the pursuing Efrafans were getting louder now.

"We have to go," Twinleaf said.

"I know."

* * *

Campion, Ivy, and Moss had managed to sneak back into Efrafa just before dawn. After he had seen his brother and sister safely asleep in an out of the way burrow, Campion snuck back out. He had to know what had happened to his mother. He knew his father was dead, fallen at the river, along with several of the other rabbits, but Lily, Tarragon, Blaze, and several others had been taken away.

The sienna buck decided there wasn't much point in sneaking around, so he marched boldly down the runs and out into the open. What he saw there, he would never forget. His mother, and all the other escapees, even the kits, lay dead on the ground. Dead.

He stared in disbelief for one long moment. It was in that moment, that he realized for the first time, the true brutality of what Efrafa would become. As he turned away, something blocked his path. He looked up. Woundwort.

"Campion..." the black rabbit sighed, "I'm sorry you had to see that. They were traitors, and traitors...must be punished. You do understand, don't you?"

Campion did understand, but he knew his parents weren't traitors, he knew it!

"Yes, sir."

"Good. You may go."

Campion scampered off. He knew one thing: he must spare his little brother from this. He had to protect him, and Ivy too. But he could protect Moss easier than Ivy. He could be sure that Moss never knew who he was. Even if it meant a lifetime of watching over his brother from far away, Campion knew, that to protect Moss, he must not connect him with his parents. And there was only one rabbit he could entrust him to. Ashkin, the orphan mother.

Ashkin had taken care of Vervain, and others like him, when they were very young, but as soon as they became old enough, they moved out to burrows close by, so Ashkin had room to care for the youngest kits. Campion felt a stab of worry. Moss was barely weaned. What if...no! He would not think of it.

When he arrived at Ashkin's burrow, he poked his head inside and was surprised to come face to face with Phlox, who was just coming out.

"What are you doing here?" Campion asked.

"I live here," Phlox murmured, "I don't have parents."

His icy blue eyes drifted to Moss.

"Why are you...?"

Campion's eyes flashed.

"Tell anyone I was the one that brought him here, and I will _personally_ kill you!"

"Okay, okay, I won't tell," Phlox squeaked, "I have enough death threats hanging over my head already!"

Campion's eyes narrowed.

"From who? Your so-called best friend, Vine?"

Phlox avoided his gaze and tried to shrug past him.

"Can't talk about it. That was part of the deal."

"What deal...?"

But Phlox was gone.

Campion suddenly remembered why he had come. He tiptoed into the burrow, and found a pretty older doe curled round several kits.

"Ashkin?" Campion said softly.

Her soft brown eyes turned toward him.

"Campion. I haven't seen you in ages. What are you doing here so early?"

"I...need a favor," Campion said, picking Moss up again, "Can you take one more?"

"Your brother? Why? Campion, what's going on? Where are your parents?"

"Woundwort killed them. I'm bringing Moss to you, it's the only way I can insure his safety. Please, Ashkin, take care of him. He's all I have. But he can never know I am his brother, or that he ever had parents. Understood?"

"Yes. Don't worry about him."

"I will try."

* * *

**I apologize for the long wait, but, I work better when I feel someone is reading the story. I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter, and with such a long gap...*sigh* I'm not blaming you for not reviewing, but I do work faster with reviews. ;) Anyways, hope you liked this chapter, and the next one should be up more quickly!**


	14. The Rise of Woundwort Part Five

Chapter Five: Seasons Passing, Ever Fading

As time passed, Campion continued to grow up. He watched over Moss from afar, although he rarely, if ever, spoke to the young buck. One thing worried him, however. Ivy was beginning to spend less and less time at home, and she refused to say where she had been. He knew it had something to do with that doe, Bramble, Vine's sister, but he wasn't sure what it was. Another thing that annoyed was the fact that most of the rabbits his age had started...well...dating. Or whatever a rabbit in his young adult years would call it. Campion personally called it stupid...until the day that Vervain arrived back from a raid with a very pretty doe as the only captive.

"Where are the rest?" Campion asked. Ordinarily, after coming back from a raid of the scale Vervain had been planning, there would have been a whole string of captives.

"She was alone, other than some old rabbit. He got away. We spent the whole day looking for her warren and found absolutely nothing because of her stubborn stupidity."

The doe growled at him. She was very attractive, indeed. Her pale green eyes flashed with anger.

"I am _not _stupid! You are the stupid ones, if you think that I will remain here willingly! Where is the Chief Rabbit of this warren? I'll even settle for the Captain of Owsla!"

Campion laughed.

"Sadly, I am the Captain of Owsla."

It was the truth. Woundwort had promoted him only a few weeks before, much to Vervain's chagrin.

"You?" the doe scoffed, "You're no older than I am."

"In this warren, the young and strong hold sway over the old and weak," Campion said calmly, "However wise the old may think themselves, General Woundwort is the wisest and bravest rabbit on earth."

"Is that so?" asked the doe, her voice cold, "And what is your name, Owsla Captain?"

"Campion. Yours?"

She sniffed.

"Primrose. Daughter of the Chief Rabbit of Redstone Warren, not that that matters."

"Why doesn't it matter?" Campion asked.

"Because you'll never find it. And I would rather die than lead you there."

"I see. Vervain, put her with a Mark. Which one doesn't matter."

As Campion turned away, he stole one last glance at the creamy doe. She was glaring hatefully at him. For some reason, Campion found it charming.

_"Am I in love?"_

* * *

But with the busy life he had to lead, Campion had little time to think about Primrose. He had an Owsla to supervise. And with spring coming on, every young buck in the warren was volunteering for the Owsla. He shook his head mournfully as he watched the young rabbits sparring with each other. One young buck in particular was continuously tripping over his own paws. His opponent wasn't giving him a chance, either. When he realized that the clumsy recruit was bleeding, the sienna-furred Captain decided that it was time for him to step in.

"You two there!" he barked, "Yes, you! Come here!"

The two recruits trotted over.

"State your names."

The larger rabbit answered immediately, and calmly.

"Redwood, sir."

Campion turned toward the smaller buck. He was trembling violently, and doing a poor job of hiding it. Not Owsla material at all.

"And you?"

"B-b-blackavar. A-a-are w-we in t-t-trouble?"

"No, you aren't. But Redwood here should be more careful."

"Sorry, sir."

"It's all right. Just...be a bit more careful, and I'll try and get you a partner who's a bit closer to your skill level next time, shall I?"

Redwood grinned and scampered off. Blackavar's shoulders drooped.

"What's wrong?" Campion asked, "He didn't hit you that hard."

"Even I know what a skill level means," Blackavar said, "I'm no good."

"Keep believing that, lad, and it will start to be true," Campion said softly, "You're plenty good, just not quite caught up to the others yet. Run along now."

Blackavar turned and trudged off. Campion sighed. The poor kit really had no chance. With plenty of training, maybe. But Campion didn't have enough officers at his disposal to give all the kits their own teacher. As he stood there thinking, he heard someone squeal something that sounded suspiciously like 'fluffy', and a moment later he felt someone land on his tail.

"Hey!" he growled, twisting his head around to see who it was. "Get off!"

The little grey buck who had been attached to his tail immediately let go and fell on the ground with a thump.

"Sorry, sir."

Campion's annoyance evaporated. Moss's pale eyes were full of innocence and apology.

"No harm done, lad. Just don't go jumping on any other officers because they happen to have fluffy appendages."

"Yes, sir."

"And don't call me sir. Campion is fine."

"Yes, sir," said Moss playfully, before scampering back to wherever he had come from.

Campion sighed. Even his own brother now called him sir.

* * *

Ivy, meanwhile, was living her dreams. Woundwort had seen the need for a more subtle group of spies, not connected with him in any way. And what better way to do that than to utilize the does? Ivy, along with Vine's sister Bramble, had been one of the first recruits. Columbine, however, had not been recruited. The problem was having to keep everything a secret from everyone. Only Woundwort, Vervain, and Thistle knew about it. Campion did not. Woundwort trusted Campion, but he feared his Captain of Owsla would be disgusted by the idea of sending the does into danger.

However, Ivy's life was not all a secret. After training, she often hung out with Thistle and Vervain, when Vervain was available. The coal-colored buck was often with Columbine. It was no secret that they liked each other. Ivy had no particular attraction to either buck, but Thistle was good fun, and Vervain was nearly as smart as she was.

This particular evening, she had arranged to meet up with Bramble, Thistle, Vervain, and Columbine to hang out. At the last moment, she thought of Campion. She hadn't spoken with her brother lately, and she thought at the very least she could invite him to join them.

The peach-colored doe made her way to the burrow which she and her brother still shared, and was surprised to actually find him at home.

"Campion."

He jumped.

"Ivy. Where have you been?"

She shrugged.

"Out. I just wanted to drop by and ask if you wanted to come hang out tonight. Vervain will be there, and some of the others, too."

Campion thought about it. It would mean a boring night of being ignored, but, since his sister had invited him...

"Why not?"

* * *

**This chapter really sucks...oh, well. I just want this to be done now. Next chapter will wrap it up, I think. And then one more short fic, and come January I will launch the new full length one.**


	15. The Rise of Woundwort Part Six

**Writes Author's Note at Top So I Don't Forget! ;) First off, thank you guys for reviewing and making me go continue this! Also, I will answer this guest review now:**

**Unknown: I'm glad you like my stories! :) The new story is... well, I can't really tell you too much. But it starts off the next war with a murder. Let's just say that you will love it, because I am letting some of your favorites out of my characters have main parts. (But don't worry everybody, the canon characters will still be there being as awesome as ever!) **

The Rise of Woundwort Part Six: Bramble's Mission

The next morning, Campion awoke late. He groaned.

_"Note to self: never accept sister's invitation to hang out."_

He had stayed up far too late last night, but oddly, he had almost had a good time. At least he and Vervain hadn't got into one of their ever more frequent fights. The black buck had actually invited him to meet up with him and Columbine after Owsla training. Campion had agreed, and had even gotten up the nerve to ask Vervain if he could bring one of his Owsla recruits along. Moss, of course. Strangely, Vervain had agreed immediately, and said that Columbine had planned to bring a friend of hers along, who was probably around Moss's age. To Campion's relief, Vervain did not connect Owsla recruit Moss to Campion's brother. It was assumed that that Moss had been killed at the river.

_"Second note to self: When accepting sister's invitation to hang out, do so before Fu-Inle." _

He groaned again.

_"I am not getting up. Ever again."  
_

* * *

Meanwhile, Ivy was feeling both terribly sad and extremely jealous.

"How can they send you on a mission without me?" she asked.

Bramble sighed.

"I don't know. But, hey, I'll be back in a moon."

"You better be," Ivy teased, "Cause if not, I'll come looking for you."

"You'll be okay without me, right?" Bramble asked.

"Sure. Great. Yeah."

Bramble sighed.

"Don't lie to me, Ives. You're gonna go cry when I leave, aren't you?"

Ivy nodded.

"What if you don't come back?"

"I'll be back. I'll always be back."

* * *

Campion finally did get up...after Vervain showed up and told him he slept through Owsla practice.

"Apparently you're not used to a social life," the black buck noted.

"Shut up," Campion told him cheerfully, "All right, time for some fun. I'll go get Moss."

Vervain nodded.

"Meet you under the twisted tree."

"Right."

* * *

When Campion arrived at the orphan burrows, he found that it was going to be difficult locating Moss. Finally, to his relief, he spotted a familiar face.

"Phlox, do you know where I can find Moss?"

Phlox's ice blue eyes flashed in surprise.

"After all these seasons of watching him like a shadow, you show up and want to know where he is?"

"Just answer the question."

Phlox gestured toward one of the burrows.

"He lives in there. Not sure he's home, though."

Campion nodded.

"Thank you, Phlox."

The white buck nodded, then turned and trotted off. Campion sighed. He had tried to befriend Phlox several times, but the white rabbit seemed almost afraid to be friends with anyone. No doubt that was Vine's fault, and it couldn't be helped.

When he entered Moss's burrow, the small grey buck sprang up immediately.

"Where you been all day, sir?" he asked.

"None of your business," Campion said coolly. "How would you like to come on a little walk with me? You can meet some of my friends."

"Why me?" Moss asked.

"Because...um...I like your attitude. You have a sense of fun and a sense of when to be serious."

"You don't have a sense of fun though," Moss said playfully.

"For your information, I was out having fun last night, and we are going to have some fun now."

"Cool!" Moss squeaked, "Let's go!"

* * *

They soon reached the twisted tree, and there found Vervain waiting for them, with Columbine and a young doe about Moss's age.

Vervain smiled.

"About time. This is your little friend, Moss, whom I've heard so much about?"

Campion nodded.

"This is Liz, and of course you know Columbine."

Moss seemed incredibly shy around the does.

"Nice to meet you," he whispered.

Columbine smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too, Moss. Liz, can you say hello to Moss?"

"Hello," Liz whispered.

"Good," said Vervain, "Now that introductions are finished, I have something to show you all."

The black rabbit turned and trotted off into the woods, with the others following close behind.

After a while, they arrived at what appeared to be a small cave.

"What's this?" asked Campion.

Vervain glared at him.

"My secret place. Come look."

Moss and Liz pushed past the older rabbits and raced inside.

"Sir, you gotta see this!" Moss squealed.

"My name is not...whoa!"

The wall of the cave sparkled with the light reflected off the shining stones embedded in it. It was a beautiful sight, and for several minutes Campion could only stand and stare.

Then, Moss broke the spell. The little buck pulled on his tail impatiently.

"Come on, let's do something!"

"Like what?" asked Columbine, always eager to please.

"Let's play a game," Moss squeaked. The grey buck looked around and noticed several feathers.

"We can use these!"

He began passing out the feathers, which were of several different varieties.

Vervain sighed.

"Do we have to?"

Columbine laughed.

"Yes, Vervain, you do, or the answer is no."

"What?!" Vervain squealed, "Over a game! All right, I'll play."

* * *

**This is not the last chapter. I don't know what will be. Anyways, for those who have read Woundwort's Return, remember the time toward the end when Vervain finds a cave with a bunch of feathers? Well, it's this cave. Liz's feather blew away or got lost or something.**


	16. The Rise of Woundwort Part Seven

The Rise of Woundwort Part Seven: Tragedies Strike

That evening, Campion, Vervain, and their friends returned to Efrafa, after spending the funnest day of any of their young lives playing Moss's game in the secret cave. After they had seen their friends back to their respective burrows, Campion and Vervain strolled leisurely along through the silent warren. There would be no Owsla practice tomorrow, and neither was in any hurry to go to sleep.

"Vervain?" Campion asked, "Columbine's friend. Liz. She's Twinleaf's kit, isn't she? What is she doing here?"

Vervain turned toward him, his black eyes narrowed. For the first time in Campion's life, he found himself almost afraid of Vervain.

"Tell anyone that Columbine has been hiding her, and I will tell Woundwort that your brother is alive! I will also tell them all that you and both your siblings were hiding while they killed your partners in crime!"

"How do you know... It was _you_! You told Woundwort that Twinleaf and my father were planning to escape!"

"I never said anything about Twinleaf. That was Thistle."

"You back-clawing scum!" Campion roared, "Get out of my sight, Vervain, and may I never speak to you in friendship again!"

The sienna-furred buck whirled around, and in a moment he had disappeared into the night.

Vervain sighed.

_"Not such a good move there. Not good at all."_

* * *

When Campion came stampeding into his burrow, furious, he was shocked to find Ivy not at home.

"Ivy? Where are you?"

As he stood there, angry with Vervain and worried for his sister, a familiar rabbit came in. It was Blackavar, the clumsy Owsla recruit.

"Captain Campion, sir?"

"Blackavar? It's the middle of the night!"

"I know that, sir, but, uh...your sister needs you. She's really upset."

"What's wrong?"

"You'll see," Blackavar murmured. He seemed on the verge of tears himself, although Campion couldn't imagine why.

He followed the young rabbit out, into the shadow of the twisted tree. There, a group of rabbits had gathered around an ominously still form. As he came closer, he could see that the rabbit's throat had been slashed open.

It took Campion a moment to recognize the dead rabbit as Bramble. When he did, everything Blackavar had said suddenly made sense. He looked around, and saw, to his surprise, that Phlox and Vine were there too. Vine was trying not to cry, and Phlox _was _crying.

_"Vine is her brother," _Campion remembered, _"But why is Phlox so upset?"_

Ivy suddenly appeared, along with Blackavar, who must have slipped off to find her. The peach-furred doe was in tears, which, although it was not surprising, shocked Campion. His sister never cried.

"Come on, Ives," he said, "Let's get you home."

She pulled away abruptly.

"Don't call me Ives. And I'm not coming home with you. I can take care of myself."

"Ivy..."

But she had turned away and was running off into the night.

"Ivy! Come back..."

* * *

The next morning, the last of three things that would forever alter the lives of the Efrafans Campion, Vervain, Ivy, Moss, Phlox, Vine, and many others occurred.

Vervain, Columbine, and Liz had gone out for early silflay, and after the events of the past night, there were few other rabbits out. Columbine and Liz nibbled at the grass close to the woods, while Vervain had sprawled on the grass a little way off. He was watching them both. They were the closest thing to a family he had ever had. He had helped Columbine keep Liz a secret, and the little kit was like a daughter to him, in a strange way.

None of them saw the weasel until it was too late. It was a crafty predator, and by the time Vervain had leaped to his feet, it was gone. Leaving Vervain staring in horror at the dead bodies of the only two rabbits he had ever truly cared about.

_"Nothing will ever be all right again..."_

* * *

**And that ties up the tale. Sorry for the morbid ending, but there's nothing left to say now...uh, never mind the song reference. I must listen to Imagine Dragons more than I thought... I'm rambling again. **

**OK, so, as you know(if you read Woundwort's Return, and if you did don't read this, you already know it all), Campion eventually follows his heart and betrays Woundwort, joining Watership Down and spending his life protecting that warren. Ivy goes on to become Woundwort's top spy, infiltrating Watership Down, but in the end dies in a futile attempt to avenge Dandelion's death. Moss became a Corporal in Efrafa, but later started a rebellion along with Redwood, another rabbit about his own age, and after the uprising failed, was imprisoned, but escaped along with his siblings. He lived on Watership Down until he was recaptured by Efrafa. After being tricked into thinking that Campion was actually still working for Woundwort, he became bitter and angry with the world, even denying any belief in Frith at one point. However, he apparently experiences a change of heart, saving Campion from a dog and dying in the process, although he later reappears in the Shadow Land with Ivy and helps Campion and a certain three seers overthrow the Shadow. Vervain eventually becomes a Captain along with Campion, and although they never fully apologize, the two former friends do speak to each other in a cordial manner several times, especially after Vervain helps several rabbits in an escape from Efrafa. Phlox and Vine remained friends until they were sent on a spying mission to Watership Down, which had the effect of giving Phlox the courage to finally stand up to Vine and thus save Fiver's life. However, it had the opposite effect on Vine, who attempted to kill Phlox, and continued to serve Efrafa until the death of his only friend, Appleseed. Afterwards, he attempted to join Watership, but was rejected, and left with a doe named Geranium to start again. Blackavar eventually either left the Owsla or was rejected, but did in the end escape, and found a home on Watership Down. Anyone else I forgot...did something. Oh, Twinleaf! Twinleaf and Leao, after many adventures, during one of which Aspen was lost, found Watership Down by a chance encounter with Hazel, and in time, Aspen, who was not dead, joined them. As for the other kit, Yarrow, he was lost along the way, but survived and had a family, although only one of them is ever found, a young buck known as Juniper. And General Woundwort, he went on to build a mighty empire, although he was in the end defeated. **

**Next time, we will see the probable final story before the launch of the new fic in January. :D**


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